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Was old Tibet a "civilized society"?

Early this year, an article published by the Dalai clique titled “China’s Claim that ‘Old Tibet’ Was a Feudal Serfdom is Fiction” claimed that before 1949, “Tibet was neither an ideal society nor a feudal serfdom society”. It described old Tibet as a beggar-free, rule-of-law society without famine in which tenants were wealthy and the economy was self-sufficient. The article asserted that the old Tibet was a “more civilized society” than China of today.

How could the old Tibet be a “civilized society”? Where is the evidence? The American Tibetologist Tom Grunfeld once said: “There is no evidence that the old Tibet was a utopian society.” However, there was plenty of evidence to prove that the old Tibet was a cruel feudal serfdom society. A huge amount of historical facts, the research by many Tibetologists, as well as the experiences of the descendants of serfs could all prove that the old Tibet was a feudal serfdom society.

The old Tibet was a society of feudal serfdom under the integration of religion and politics and the dictatorship of monks and aristocrats. The entire infield, pastures, forest, mountains, rivers and most of the livestock were owned by monks and aristocrats. About 90 percent of the population was serfs. Besides serfs, there were “nangsen”, who made up 5 percent of the total population. The “nangsens” were household servants for lords for generations without any production materials or personal freedom. Melvyn C Goldstein, an American Tibetologist, once pointed out that the privilege which the monks and aristocrats enjoyed was the biggest hindrance in the development of Tibet. A great deal of historical facts and research results of many Tibetologists all proved that the old Tibet was a feudal serfdom society under theocracy.

Many western scholars, explorers and even invaders also drew the same conclusion. These westerners described the old Tibet in more details. In the book The Unveiling of Lhasa, Edmund Candler, an India-based correspondent of the British newspaper Daily Mail, who entered Tibet with the British army in 1904, said Tibet was then under a feudal serfdom where peasants were slaves of the lamas. “People were tortured in many ways.” French Tibetologist Alexandra David-Neel wrote in her book Old Tibet Faces A New China: “In old Tibet, all the peasants are serfs who are in debt for a life-long time. It was hard to find some one with no debt. They also had to pay exorbitant taxes and levies and do heavy compulsory labor.” British diplomat Sir Charles Bell, who had lived in Tibet for a long time in 1920s, wrote in his book Tibet: Past and Present: “Tibet is still in the feudal age. Great is the power of the nobles and squires over their tenants, who are either farmers tilling the more fertile plains and valleys, or shepherds, clad in their sheepskins, roaming over the mountains.” These foreigners’ all described the old Tibet in an objective way.

Under the serf system which integrated religion with politics, natural and man-made disasters occurred almost every year. In the Archives of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, many archives recorded disasters occurred in Tibet, including snow damage, frost hazard, epidemic and man-made disasters. There are also many files prove that the local government of Tibet at that time did not take effective measures to reduce damage, causing famine, massive human and livestock death.

People who once lived under the feudal serfdom system of old Tibet would never forget their tragic experiences. “Before the democratic reform of 1959, I was less than ten years old. I was the servant of my laird’s elder son, and my family was serfs for generations.” said Lhagpa Phuntshogs, a well-known Tibetologist in China. In the well-preserved Palha Manor in Shigatse, the huge differences between the serf-owners and the “nangsens” were obvious. The size of the Palha Manor in which the serf-owners lived is more than 5000 square metres, with a building of three stories and 82 rooms. However, there were more than 60 “nangsens” lived in a 150-square-metres house, with a per capita living space of less than 2.5 square metres.

Is this the true picture of the old Tibet? Is this the “self-sufficient and civilised” society that the Dalai clique described? The solid historical facts completely exposed the lies made by the Dalai clique.

The 14th Dalai Lama always described the old Tibet as a “more democratic society”. However, he never described it in a more detailed way. As a matter of fact, the more he described it in detail, the more lies would be nailed. The fact that the Dalai clique described the old Tibet as a “rule-of-law society” also “shocked” everyone. When interviewed in 1988, the 10th Panchan Lama said: “In fact, before the democratic reform of 1959, the punishments for serfs, which included gouging out eyes, cutting off ears, hands and feet, pulling out tendons, and throwing people into rivers, were cruel and savage. Handcuffs, fetters, sticks and clubs and cruel instruments of torture for gouging out eyes and pulling out tendons were found in Ganden Monastery, one of the biggest monasteries in Tibet.” However, could the Dalai clique say that the old Tibet was a “rule-of-law society”? The feudal serf system under the integration of religion and politics of the old Tibet was an even darker and crueler system than European serfdom in the Middle Ages. Therefore, the Dalai Lama’s remarks only confound black with white!

Disclaimer: Tibet Sun has republished this piece to bring awareness among the people.

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